Precious Moments -- or, My Little Golden Book of Retroviruses

He gets upset because Fr.Tim makes changes in the Mass he shouldn't, dear.

But WHY does Fr. Tim do things he shouldn't, Mommy?

(Oh dear. Do I give her the charitable or the uncharitable response?)

Well, Melissa, Fr. Tim spends two or three nights a week at the "Lost & Found" downtown -- that's a kind of pub or tavern for men who like men the way they shouldn't like them. Many times they do bad things and germs get inside Fr. Tim that compromise his immune sys -- let me try again. You know the policemen that guard the bank on 59th Street? If all those policemen got sick, anybody could come into the bank and take all the money out, right? Well, the germs that Fr. Tim's men-friends put inside him kill all the bank guards, and then other germs come in that make Fr. Tim really, really sick. No, not real bank guards, honey, pretend guards. So he spends ten months out of every twelve with a series of low-grade secondary inflammations that cause -- sorry. Fr. Tim has lots of infections -- fevers -- that eventually find their way into his cortical tissue -- his brain -- and bring about a kind of dementia that can be sporadically triggered by stress or fatigue. Oh honey, don't cry. All I meant to say was that Fr. Tim is not a well man and sometimes he says silly, silly things. But he's doing the best he can.

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Here's an interesting thought experiment. Picture the child asking Christ Himself, incarnate, why such a thing occurs. Now imagine the answer. Would it be flowery and circumlocutious or would it be direct and blunt?
What's more, how do you think that He will respond to the scandal caused to one of the Little Ones from Scripture?
If someone's tongue is starting to stick to the roof of their mouth, as in the parable of the Rich Man, then I think the message is getting across.

Posted by: Canis Prodigus -
Mar. 27, 2004 12:20 PM ET USA

I'm surprised to have not seen a comment here to this effect: Satan hates the Church and wants it to die. Satan accomplishes this through people, preferably people who are well-positioned to wreak the greatest havoc. This means, of course, that members of the clergy are subject to the greatest temptation. It also means, of course, that, as a result, members of the clergy should be held to the highest standard. Grave sin rarely occurs in a vaccuum; it is generally the cumulative result of...

Posted by: -
Mar. 27, 2004 12:15 AM ET USA

If Fr. Tim was Dr. Tim and accused of malpractice there would be no calls for mercy. He simply would be removed to protect the community. Why are we more tolerant of priests? Which profession is more important?

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 4:44 PM ET USA

My impression was that Diogenes was trying to explain our collective anger at the way some priests mutilate the liturgy -- that's what Mom said to her daughter. Fr. Tim's aberrant Mass angers Daddy. I did not understand the remaining diatribe against homosexual priests (and you're preaching to the choir, there!) to be factual, merely supposition on Mommy's part. Don't forget that there are idiots on the left who are NOT homos! And the "wee wee" bit (edited out?) was over the line; uncivil.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 3:25 PM ET USA

If Fr. Tim acts in a manner against the welfare of souls, he is worthy of being thrown into a lake with a millstone tied around his neck. We are, like it or not, in a war. Wars are messy and unpleasant. But we have to fight so as to win. If winning (in this case the elimination of the Fr. Tims of the world) requires ridicule of someone who defends his aberrant lifestyle and/or theology, so be it. In any case, when he repents, he should be treated with respect and charity.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 3:14 PM ET USA

Elementary moral theology states that you are a product of your choices. The priests portrayed are not tortured souls thirsting for repentance and mercy, they are hardened sinners, unrepentant, defiant and filled with hate.
The next question is what do they hate? I think this post, both the charitable and uncharitable one, answers that.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 1:36 PM ET USA

I think that the article was uncharitable. The view that priests are not to blame because of bad formation is a canard; the damage, not just in spiritual terms, but in terms of people in the pews, is obvious. The implication that homosexuality (and various diseases ) is at the root of this, however, is not fair (although homosexuality in the priesthood is a crisis). There is a balance between bad formation, human weakness, and ill will...and where each priest falls here, God alone knows...

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 1:36 PM ET USA

As to the uncharitable answer Diogenes, we do know from Christ's teaching that sin begets sin. Unfaithfulness in little things leading to greater unfaithfulness... Your charitable answer is reminiscent of the Episcopalian Robinson debate. When a pastor described homosexual acts he was cut off by Griswold who didn't want to hear it.
Homosexual activity is glorified by many today. We need to constantly recall just what it is and its effects. Silk purses. Sow's ears.

Posted by: Monk247 -
Mar. 26, 2004 1:27 PM ET USA

I find this type of soft porn vitriol disturbing on a Catholic web site. The ministry of Jesus never included denegration of the sinner. Raise it up a notch please.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 1:15 PM ET USA

One CAN certainly know a persons intent without being God. If a man points his .357 at me I can make a reasonable assumption that his intentions are evil without waiting for the muzzle flash. A priest "performing" a gay mass replete with men prancing up the aisle in leopard leotards would lead me to conclude he is a sexual deviant or at least an accomplice.
Rampant liturgical abuses are a genuine display of disrespect to Christ, the Church and to Her mystical body which impacts each of us.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 12:10 PM ET USA

Two points only: (1) Diogenes calls his second answer "uncharitable" for a reason. (2) To "hate the Church and want her to die" is attribution of evil intent to Fr. Tim's actions. We don't have that information; only God does. Fr. Tim DOES exist, but who knows what his motivations are or aren't? True, he is a cancer on the Body; true, he needs to be healed or excised. But because a priest makes changes to the Mass doesn't mean we must presume he's a sexual deviant, nor print it here.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 11:56 AM ET USA

Honesty can sometimes appear brutal when a society has become sentimentalized. It's an honest answer. The often offered defense that they don't know because they have never been taught does not work. Forgive the personal. I was raised protestant and left, became involved in the New Age, Wicca, etc. Nobody taught me either but I searched for 30 years to find truth with a capital T. It is available and doesn't take much effort to find. If a person wants truth, it can be found.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 11:23 AM ET USA

Fr E, you are confusing Mercy with Justice. The Church is Christ's bride -- those who worship a "different Christ" as St Paul warned, can also worship a "different Church".
Dietrich Von Hildebrand had it right; excommunication is an act of Mercy.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 11:21 AM ET USA

It is necessary and I'm not alone in saying Diogenes posts are right on the mark. Blaming the seminary is a weak excuse for these priests and bishops who ARE doing their absolute best to destroy the Church. With the amount of information available to the typical American via the internet there is no excuse for a priest remaining a liturgical ignoramous and claiming he was improperly "formed" at the seminary. If they "felt" their way thru the seminary are they validly ordained?

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 11:02 AM ET USA

Father E. - your defense of Fr. Tim is groundless. Fr. Tim exists, whether you know him or not. He is poison for the Church and death for souls. The last thing you will ever hear from him is a sermon touching upon the love of God and the salvation of souls. He is a social worker. He is an ecumaniac. He is a supporter of the feminazi cause. He is a leader who needs desperately to be led where he refuses to go - to the foot of the Cross. Fire him first, pray for him second.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 10:28 AM ET USA

I agree with Father E. I would add, of course, that these men shouldn't have been ordained priets in the first place if their theology and their psyches are so malformed.
But this post by Diogenes, with whom I usually agree, is particularly mean-spirited.

Posted by: -
Mar. 26, 2004 7:33 AM ET USA

I find this disgusting. Is this really necessary for Catholic Journalism? The irony is Diogenes just doesn't understand that priests like Fr. Tim don't hate the Church, they just doesn't know who she is. They have been fed all kinds of mumbo-jumbo since their first day in the seminary. They don't just have a wrong ecclesiology, they don't have an ecclesiology. Same for morals and sacramentals. They spent their time on feelings, many times sinful, and have never used their intellect.

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